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You are 52. Not a young man, not a teenager, but halfway through your life

Judge Stuart Rafferty

Five years later, DNA taken from the rape victim was tested with new techniques during a review of unsolved crimes – and proved a match to Carnelley. He initially denied raping the 25-year-old woman and was due to stand trial before changing his plea to guilty after learning there was about a “one in a billion” chance the DNA found on his victim belonged to someone else.

Appearing before Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, the father-of-two was jailed for seven years as a judge told him: “Thank heavens for science.” David Allen, prosecuting, described how Carnelley had pulled his lone victim into an alleyway in Nottingham city centre on the night of September 14, 1990, claiming he had a knife.

He raped the woman after threatening to hurt her with his blade before fleeing into the night. In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said: “It made me feel like I wanted to rip my insides out and my body didn’t belong to me any more. I never got over whathappened to me.”

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Mark Carnelley's home in Nottingham

Judge Stuart Rafferty, QC, told Carnelley: “You are 52. Not a young man, not a teenager, but halfway through your life. “At the age of 26 you did something absolutely unforgivable.“As the time went by you simply confined her and that night to memory. Were it not for advances in science, you would never have been caught.”

The judge said while Carnelley forged a successful career and personal life, his victim “had nothing” because of what he did to her. Ian Way, defending, said: “This is a 26-year-old case and the defendant is a very different person to the person he was then.”

Detective Inspector Justine Dakin said: “This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim. “She was frightened Carnelley would use further violence during the attack and was extremely scared throughout the whole incident. I would like to commend her for the immense bravery she has shown throughout the investigation.

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Blue Coat Street: Where Carnelley pulled his victim into an alleyway

“She is a truly incredible woman, who has waited almost 27 years for justice to be served.” In the years following the alleyway attack, Carnelley went on to marry, start a family and run a successful printing business, Precision Inks, with his wife Sally in Nottingham, their home city. At the height of its success the business recorded six- figure profits. The couple lived in a five-bedroom detached home in nearby Gamston. Wife Sally, who is also a director of the business, yesterday refused to comment on her husband’s past. She said: “I don’t want to speak about it really.” The couple’s two children are aged 21 and 24.

Yesterday, neighbours spoke of their shock. One, who asked not to be named, said: “He seemed a perfectly normal, quiet family man – but obviously he had a very dark secret. They have got a lovely house with an extension and nice cars. “They both had personalised number plates. “His was up for sale a few weeks ago. I guess we know why now. It won’t be much use to him in prison. “The first time we realised anything was wrong was a year or so ago when a load of police vans turned up outside the house. “Now we’ve heard about what he did, we can’t believe it.” Another neighbour added: “It just shows you don’t really know anyone.

“They seemed a nice couple who mostly kept themselves to themselves, so it was a massive surprise to find out he had raped someone all those years ago. “He looked totally respectable. He had obviously done very well in life and on the face of it had it all. But it looks like he couldn’t escape his past.” Alongside his prison sentence, Carnelley was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.